The Greenville Lioness Club has supported the Council for years.
In May 2019, the Council awarded the Greenville Lioness Club the Community Giving Council Excellence Award. This philanthropic club has been doing good in the Greenville area, which is near Appleton, since its founding in 1977. These 58 women, along with the members of the Greenville Lions Club, support many programs integral to the life of the community.
“I want people to know that we are there to help and give back,” says Shirley Carlson, Greenville Lioness Club President of 24 years. “We are honored to be selected for a Council Excellence Award. It makes us proud to receive recognition for the good we do.”
The club participates in many fundraising events and activities throughout the year. Some of these include:
- February – Greenville fresh pizza sales and fleece blanket tying for cancer patients
- Summer – Family Movie Night – weekly movie & food for all families at Greenville Lions Park
- July/August – Greenville Catfish Races (joint fundraising event with Greenville Lions Club)
- October, 1st Sunday – Greenville Fall Craft Fair
- December – Caroling & Gift Baskets to Shut-Ins and Nursing Homes/Care Centers
The Parade of Checks banquet is held each April, where the Greenville Lioness Club gives out the money earned through fundraising to specific organizations—one of which is the Council. At the event in 2019, the club gave out $28,000; total giving for the 2018-2019 year was $42,000.
The Greenville Lioness Club is a Council donor since 2008, and their current giving total is over $8,000.
“Greenville is a small city, and these women dedicate themselves each year to hold events whose money raised goes in part to support the Council,” says Rhonda Staats, nominator of the Greenville Lioness Club for the Council Excellence Award. “The club has demonstrated belief and support of the Council’s mission for over a decade.”
In addition to the Council, the Greenville Lioness Club fundraising supports the following Programs and organizations:
- Local Service Organizations – Greenville Firefighters, Greenville First Responders, local Boy Scouts, Civic Club, Field of Dreams, Youth Sports, Valley Mounted Volunteers, Wolf Rive K-9, Greenville Manor and Greenville YMCA.
- Education – financial support for 5th graders to get reimbursed for Babysitting Clinic, Badger Girls, First Book, Libraries – Greenville Elementary, Greenville Middle School, Immanuel Greenville, St Mary’s Greenville, Youth Exchange and Scholarships (Local High Schools and Colleges).
- Nonprofit Organizations – Community Closet, Diabetes Foundation, Food Pantry, Harbor House, Humane Society, Red Cross, Salvation Army and Community Blood Center.
The members of the Greenville Lioness Club are active out and about in their community as well. In partnership with the Greenville Lions, nine women from the club are signed up as drivers for the Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin (LEBW) cornea transport program. They help get the tissue from the harvesting site to the LEBW facility in Madison. In the Greenville area in 2019, there were eighteen transports, and the Lionesses assisted with ten of those.
The Greenville Lionesses also assist the Greenville Lions Club when they do vision screenings in schools and around the community.
When asked to use six words to describe the Greenville Lioness Club, Rhonda chose dedicated, mission-focused, volunteerism, service, commitment and priority.
To learn more about the Greenville Lioness Club, follow their page on Facebook.
